Your guide to this year’s Woodford Folk Festival

IT'S hard to believe, but this will be Kasey Chambers' first year playing Woodford Folk Festival.

The much-loved singer songwriter, who is a Bluesfest and Gympie Muster regular, headlines the 34th annual event which starts today at Woodfordia.

"More than any other festival, I've had so many people tell me I would love it," she recently told Quest. "Everything I've heard about it is everything I love about music, creativity and bringing people together for all the right reasons. I think I'm going to fit right in."

The six-day event boasts 1600 shows across 25 venues, with Kate Miller-Heidke, Amanda Palmer, Lior, Electric Fields, Lior, Archie Roach and Emma Louise all set to rock the main stages.

The Fergies take to the stage at the Woodford Folk Festival 2018. Photo by Lachlan Douglas.

But Woodford is much more than just a music festival. The cultural event, which has a theme for the next three years of Imagining a Beautiful Future, also features art installations, workshops, daily yoga sessions, guest speakers and performance art.

Thanks to a $3m infrastructure spend from the Queensland Government and the Moreton Bay Regional Council, Woodfordia's General Manager Amanda Jackes says it is the start of a new era for the not-for-profit organisation, which also hosts The Planting and the Festival of Small Halls.

Here are the top picks from this year's jam-packed Woodford Folk Festival program:

Eurovision at Woodford

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – MAY 18: Kate Miller-Heidke representing Australia, performs live on stage during the 64th annual Eurovision Song Contest held at Tel Aviv Fairgrounds on May 18, 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images)

EARLIER this year SBS hosted the first ever Eurovision - Australia Decides event on the Gold Coast to determine the act that would represent Australia at the annual song contest.

Brisbane's Kate Miller-Heidke won the honour and went on to place ninth out of 26 finalists with her operatic acrobatics in Tel Aviv.

Both Miller-Heidke and her Australia Decides runners up Electric Fields will close out the first night of the festival at the Amphitheatre.

Tell Me Why in Concert

Archie Roach will debut his new show at the Woodford Folk Festival. Photo: Flacko Man.

FESTIVAL-goers will be the first in the country to see Archie Roach perform his new show based on his memoir Tell Me Why.

Kasey Chambers released The Captain – Deluxe Edition (20th Anniversary) on May 17.

BELOVED singer songwriter and ARIA Hall of Famer Kasey Chambers finally makes her Woodford debut on Saturday night. But like at Byron Bay's Bluesfest, you're sure to see her wandering the site and checking out other acts before her own show.

With Chambers marking 20 years since the release of her groundbreaking debut album The Captain earlier this year, fans can expect to hear most of the songs from the pivotal record.

She will also take the audience on a journey through her life with songs and stories.

Finding your inner Russian

The rousing music of Dustyesky from "Mullumgrad" is coming to Woodford.

RETURNING festival favourites Dustyesky are back to host a series of rowdy Russian singalongs.

The all-male choir from Mullumbimby will not only perform its usual set of rousing Red Army and Russian folk songs but also host a singing in Russian workshop on Saturday night.

This group of everyday blokes, who transform into 'humble salmon smokers' when they take to the stage, have become a phenomenon with a strong following including many Russian expats.

Matt Golinski's with Scottish Feast

Chef Matt Golinski has curated a Scottish feast for the Woodford Folk Festival.

ACCLAIMED local chef Matt Golinski caters a special New Year's Eve feast at the Halcyon tent. Australian take on a Scottish feast. Angus beef, tatties, neeps, whisky sauce and treacle tarts are on the menu of his take on Scottish fare. And no Scottish feast would be complete without haggis, supplied by Maleny black angus Beef. Please note this is a paid event separate from your festival ticket.

Lime Cordiale at the Amphitheatre

Lime Cordiale’s international career is set to take off with Post Malone.

IT'S been a big year for brothers Louis and Oli Leimbach, who make up the Sydney rock pop duo Lime Cordiale.

They have been signed by chart-topper Post Malone and his manager Dre London to a co-management and label deal with Chugg Music.

According to Michael Chugg, Malone first heard the duo's music when he was on tour in the country earlier this year and Dre flew to Byron Bay to see one of Lime Cordiale's shows at the Broken Head Hotel.

They have a new single, Robbery, out now and are expected to have multiple entries in this year's Triple J Hottest 100 music poll.

Elefant Traks 21st Birthday Bash

Horrorshow will help celebrate their record label’s 21st birthday at Woodford.

MONDAY night at the Amphitheatre is set to go off with Horrorshow and The Herd heading up a 21st birthday bash for the Elefant Traks label.

Founded as a collective in Sydney, the independent label helped create a pathway for local hip-hop culture and electronic music.

L-FRESH the Lion, Okenyo and Jimblah X Homeward Bound will also perform.

Leigh Sales interviews Michael Gudinski

Leigh Sales is part of the speakers program at this year’s Woodford Folk Festival.

ESTEEMED 7.30 host and award-winning journalist Leigh Sales will sit down with Australian music promoter Michael Gudinski on Monday afternoon to get his thoughts on innovation and entrepreneurship in the music industry, and what he sees for the future of Australian music.

Through his highly successful record company Mushroom Records, Gudinski has worked with everyone from the Skyhooks and The Choirboys to Kylie Minogue, Split Enz, Eskimo Joe and Evermore.

PERFORMANCE artist Emma Maye Gibson brings her obscene beauty queen Betty Grumble to Woodford. Her critically-lauded, award-winning womanifesto Love and Anger is a protest party where pleasure is a radical act and the body a bloody love letter. This show comes with a mature content warning, so if you want to check out Betty in an earlier timeslot, she's also performing at the Deluxe Cabaret and Comedy Club.

New Year's Eve shenanigans

The Barleyshakes will play a late-night set at Woodford on New Year’s Eve.

IF THERE'S one night to party until the sun comes up, it's New Year's Eve.

Dance the night away with an Elton John Singalong, Scottish pipes, the Celtic sounds of the Barleyshakes or the beats of Sikh hip-hopper L-FRESH the Lion.

Then ring in a new decade at Woodford's renowned sunrise ceremony on the hilltop.